TCO Fishing Report - February 28th, 2025 for the Truckee River, Little Truckee River and Pyramid Lake
This week we got our first taste of spring. Although we’ve had plenty of warm days this season, the temps in the low 60’s and the longer days really made the week feel like winter is quickly winding down. Fortunately, Mother Nature isn’t giving up just yet and looking ahead we have a few days of snow starting this weekend. It doesn’t appear that we will receive a whole lot of accumulation from it, at least here in town, but we can expect it to keep the snowpack on the hill for just a bit longer, if nothing else. On a winter like this one, any small storm is just one less day we will see warm water in the Truckee. On the bright side, this week’s warm weather made the river fish very well. Baetis hatches are starting up on the lower river and we expect the Skwala Stonefiles to begin any time now, especially if we continue to see sunny days. As you may expect, Pyramid certainly didn’t benefit from the high pressure and sunshine, the bite quickly turned tough mid-week, with a good, albeit, short window earlier this week when overcast days were present. We expect this to flip flop once again this weekend, when this next storm front pushes through. As we come into what is considered the prime month for the salty pond, we highly encourage you to take advantage of this week’s cold front and get out and fish the lake. It continues to be the best year we’ve seen out there so don’t let it pass you by.
Truckee River Fishing Report & Forecast
We are currently seeing very good fishing conditions on the river. Flows are right around, or slightly above average for this time of year and the water is holding just that perfect level of tint. We are likely to see low and warm water later in the year and this spring will certainly be the best time to fish any freestone rivers like the Truckee.
While March is considered the single best month for Pyramid, we would also say it’s one of the best months for the river as well. The rainbows are heading into pre-spawn, the skwalas start to show, the most prolific baetis hatches or the year happen on the lower river. Best of all, the crowds remain light!
Yet another great thing about fishing right now is the casual timeframe for being on the water. Mid-day through early afternoon will typically provide the best fishing. Sleeping in a bit and having a nice breakfast before you head to the water is always a nice change of pace from the mid-summer zero-dark-thirty start times required to beat the heat.
With all of this said, conditions could very well change as early as this weekend if this storm lays down a good amount of precipitation. So, if you’re looking to fish early next week, give us a call to get the latest for the Truckee. When fishing the river this week, we have once again begun to pick up most of our fish on the smaller flies like baetis and midges, giving a bit of an advantage to the baetis right now. San Juan worms and pat’s rubber legs are putting plenty of fish in the net as well. With the skwalas slowly starting up, we are fishing olive or brown stonefly nymphs in a size 8-10 as our larger “attractor nymphs.”
The conditions are great along all sections of the river right now and there is a lot of good water to choose from during these flows. It’s a good time to get out and explore some new beats, especially with very little snow on the ground to impede you.
Little Truckee River Fishing Report & Forecast
The Little Truckee is once again accessible this week. But if this storm lays down even a few inches of snow around Hirschdale, it could change shortly. The flows here are slightly above average for this time of year, fluctuating between 98 and 110 throughout the day. It is fishing well, especially when using nymphs.
The dry fly fishing is a bit spotty with these bright and sunny days, but there are still fair hatches of baetis most days. While midges and winter stones are present as well, they will typically be best fished as a nymph, as they aren’t consistent enough on most days to interest the fish. 6x tippet is the name of the game out here right now when using both nymphs and dries.
As we look forward to spring, we are not far off from seeing the rainbows begin to stage for spawn. When that time comes, please give these fish their space during this vulnerable time.
The fish will likely begin to spawn in 3-4 weeks.
Pyramid Lake Fishing Report & Forecast
Whenever we think to ourselves “It can’t stay this good all season”, we are happily proven wrong. The lake continues to fish well this week, at least on the overcast and stormy days.
When the fish begin to come in shallow and school up in their pre-spawn behavior, the storm systems will be far less important, and the fishing will be good most days. Typically, these fish enter pre-spawn in April. Until then, when we have a high-pressure system, expect the bite to be tough. On bright and sunny days, your best bet is to fish the river. When there is a low-pressure system pushing through, more times than not you can expect some great fishing out here. Especially after it’s been a few days of weather, and the fish have had some time to adjust. Remember, just as much as they don’t like high sun, trout also don’t like change, they much prefer consistent conditions. The day of a dropping barometric pressure is typically not going to be as good as once it has dropped and stabilized for a day or two.
We have been almost exclusively fishing midges over the last few weeks, and leeches will likely be relevant when fishing a significant drop off, or when the waves are quite large. We have been finding fish in close and somewhat shallow first thing in the morning and as the day progresses, we are setting our flies deeper and moving further out. The size of your midge should depend more on how much of a profile you are looking for and how much weight is needed to stay anchored in the waves. On the calm days we are fishing size 12-14’s and on the choppy days, a size 10 with a larger tungsten bead to keep us in the strike zone.
Overcast days can keep the fish in range of shore anglers most of the day, while the sunny days out here will really limit the bite window to first thing in the morning and possibly again in the afternoon. The strip bite has slowly been getting better, and this should really pick up once the fish begin their schooling behavior in a few weeks. Until then your best bet will be fishing the little guys under an indicator and waiting for a fish to swim by.
Spring Euro Nymphing Clinic
Sign up for our Euro Nymphing Clinic with TCO Guides Nate Cutler and Mike Doubek this May. This will be a two-day intensive workshop on the fundamentals of Euro Nymphing on the Truckee River. The clinic will include both on-the-water and off-the-water instruction.
Participants will receive a selection of flies, leader building materials and a swag pack in addition to quality instruction from our guides.
Anglers are asked to provide their own Euro Nymphing rod & reel for this clinic. A small number of rental rods are available through the shop. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions regarding what kind of rod is best suited towards Euro Nymphing.
$700.00 per person for two days of instruction and guiding.
Dates - May 17th & 18th
Reserve your spot now - limited spaces available!
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